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Like I said above... I am looking to try and find 15' on my next hang attempt. I have to go to the woods since I don't have trees. But I'll let you know.

I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.

"Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
Mrs. Loftus to Huck Finn

Boy time flies when you start reading on this forum...Thanks to all for your posts...I really appreciate the help...I went out and measured were I set up in the back. My problem here is nowhere to hang from...But where I did hang from in the pictures above the distance was 19' 6"...Mamas cloths line was as high as I could go up and that was 6' 6". So maybe from what I gather by the comments here is to go higher up.
As HH web site states in there setup instructions "Distance between trees. The recommended distance between trees is 12' to 25' feet / 3.658 to 7.62 meter for the Expedition Asym and Ulralight Backpacker Asym models and 13'-26' / 3.962-7.925 meters for the Explorer and Safari models."So at 19' 6" I landed right in the middle....so maybe I have to go higher up. I"ll have to find another place to try this....

Boy time flies when you start reading on this forum...Thanks to all for your posts...I really appreciate the help...I went out and measured were I set up in the back. My problem here is nowhere to hang from...But where I did hang from in the pictures above the distance was 19' 6"...Mamas cloths line was as high as I could go up and that was 6' 6". So maybe from what I gather by the comments here is to go higher up.
As HH web site states in there setup instructions "Distance between trees. The recommended distance between trees is 12' to 25' feet / 3.658 to 7.62 meter for the Expedition Asym and Ulralight Backpacker Asym models and 13'-26' / 3.962-7.925 meters for the Explorer and Safari models."So at 19' 6" I landed right in the middle....so maybe I have to go higher up. I"ll have to find another place to try this....

Mike,

Those recommended distance numbers sound suspicious. That sounds like someones calculations based on how long the tarps are for the minimum span and how long the hammock suspension lines are for the maximum span. They are assuming you can just tighten and retighten and retighten the suspension lines to raise the hammock. Maybe you can but I'm a little skeptic about being doing that when the hammocks are loaded to their rated weights.

There is going to be some sag in the suspension lines of a weighted hammock, they are not going to stay horizontal. How much they sag is going to be a function of several things, the weight of the occupant is one of those. The bigger hammocks are rated for bigger people. This is a different problem for a bigger person than it is for a smaller person where weights can vary by a factor of two or so.

The larger model Hennessy's have more sag built into the hammock itself because of the dimensions chosen for the fabric length and ridgeline length. (For reference, the hammocks with structural ridgelines, which all the Hennessy's have, have a sag determined by the ratio of the length of the fabric relative to the length of the ridgeline. The hammock suspension lines have their own independent sag angle and it is the angle the suspension lines have relative to the horizon. If you are pulling the hammock taut, they are near zero until you get in the hammock and the hammock drops.) The advantage of that is comfort, but you need the longer fabric length to handle the increased sag without making the hammock feel too small. The disadvantage to this is the ridgeline ends up higher above the ground. In comparison, if the ridgeline on the UL Backpacker model ends up 4 feet and some inches above the ground when hung properly for a specific individual, then the Safari model's ridgeline would end up 5 feet and some inches above the ground when hung comparably for the same individual. That foot or so difference is built into the geometry of the sag that the hammocks are designed for and there is absolutely, positively, no way what-so-ever around that.

That means that you want to tie those larger models higher on the supports for any particular span, about a foot higher in general unless you can't reach that high and then you have to add extra tension on the suspension to raise the hammock. This is where it gets a little tricky because there are a lot of 'ifs' involved. I can't give you an absolute number or even a fairly solid number, but my guess would be that in the the UL Backpacker model has about a 6 foot span advantage over the Safari model, or more, based on geometry and physics.

But someone can always produce a lighter weight occupant and show that it can be done or maybe even tighten the heck out of everything and get the rated weight in it without anything failing... that time. I don't see that as practical though. What I see is that the larger Hennessy hammocks have a disadvantage when it comes to maximum span.

Thanks again for your kindness in posting info...this is all knew to me so it will take a little time I'm sure to figure out...I debated a long time on whether to get the safari or a smaller one. I am 5' 11" 195 and thought it cant hurt to get the big one for the room. I think if I raise this thing up another foot or so It should work ok. I was just amazed that as high as I had it it would drop as far as it did. I'm going to try and get out find some areas to hang this in different heights and distances to see whats best...

Thanks again for your kindness in posting info...this is all knew to me so it will take a little time I'm sure to figure out...I debated a long time on whether to get the safari or a smaller one. I am 5' 11" 195 and thought it cant hurt to get the big one for the room. I think if I raise this thing up another foot or so It should work ok. I was just amazed that as high as I had it it would drop as far as it did. I'm going to try and get out find some areas to hang this in different heights and distances to see whats best...

Thanks again....

Your welcome, we all help each other out around here.

I know what you mean with that large hammock. The first one I saw was one Coy Boy had on the 1st camping trip I did with him several years back. He got one very cheap in some round about way through a friend that got it at some show or some event at a huge discount. Turns out the ridgeline was too short on that, it must have been a prototype or factory second or something that Hennessy was practically giving away instead of tossing... but we didn't know that then. Coy Boy was letting a teenager use it that weighted about 100 pounds but we had to keep putting it on trees that were closer and closer together to keep it off the ground when the kid was in it. It was kind of humorous at the time as we kept looking at each other and shaking our heads when it would hit the ground wondering just what the heck you where suppose to do to hang that hammock. Sometime later, Coy Boy got around to increasing the length of the ridgeline and got it to work fine.

BBW spent some time in the woods last night and thought about your hammock stretch. I took some measurements for my own use and thought I would share them. I tied to a 14' span which was slightly shorter than I would have liked. The snake skins bunched up and covered the hooks for the tarp. But it was a proper distance and good trees. My lash knots hung at 6' above the ground using stock huggers. The huggers were roughly 6' 3" on the tree. I did notice some stretch over the night which I attribute to normal fabric stretch. There is a LOT of fabric in the Safari beastie. But all in all I was at a reasonable height in the morning.

If you get the opportunity to test those measurements let me know if you have the same fortune. I did have to adjust my hang in the middle of the night but that's because I had to put my underquilt on. It did not affect any of the measurements and I did not change any suspension points. at 19' 6" you would certainly have to hang _way_ higher than 6' 6".

Hope this helps.

I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.

"Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
Mrs. Loftus to Huck Finn

Thanks for the post....I too am in the process of trying to get another hang here and do some measuring...After looking at youngbloods chart from another post I definitely was to low on the hang. I am thinking of putting in a couple of post in the back yard this week end if I can get the material...I liked the idea of putting a pipe in the ground and fitting a pipe inside that one so I can pull it out when not in use. Saves me a trip to the hills just for learning...

bbw, in the field, an easy way to get a good idea of the angle your lines would need to be without the ridgeline, and thus see how high you would need to attach on any given span for minimal inital drop, is to just look at the angle of the last foot or so of hammock fabric. running the support lines upward at this same angle, or near this angle, will produce the least inital drop possible, the ridgeline allows you to decrease the suspension angle to attach lower to the trees, but the greater the descrepency between the angle of the last foot or so of hammock fabric and the actual suspension angle, the more force on the system and the more initial drop you experience. just comparing the differences in the 2 angles (suspension line vs. last foot of hammock fabric) will give you a good idea of where you are at in relation to the natural sag angle of the hammock and how much higher on the tree you could go to reduce inital drop.

I think I have had to many senior moments...brain cells ain't clicking here...ok when I am tied off and I look at the setup my ridge line and the angle where the rope comes off the hammock will give me an idea if I am set right...I'm sorry I don't see it...I have only had this thing setup once so I am trying to visualize this. I don't see how I can get the rope section ever level with the tree hugger. If I was to get the rings right next to the tree I guess then It would put the rope line level with the ridge line. But when I wrap the hugger there is always a drop down from the wrap which will always cause an angle...

If I understand correctly this is how I use his advice. I string my hammock where I think it should go. Then I eyeball the curve of the hammock and take it to the tree by eye. If the intersection of the eyeline and the hugger is about the same I am good to go. If the eyeball is way above the hugger I can prepare to drop like a rock when I get in. If the hugger is above the eyeball line then I will probly need a ladder to get in and out.

I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.

"Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
Mrs. Loftus to Huck Finn